Audi: Clowns, juxtaposes the buffoonery of a circus troupe with the elegant technologies of the auto brand’s models.

The ad follows a variety of harlequins as they navigate the roads with disastrous consequences to a reimagined version of Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondheim.

As the colourful gang speeds down hills in reverse and cuts up traffic in a lipstick-related rear view mirror incident, Audi’s cars employ their various technologies – such as cross traffic assist and pre sense city warnings – to avoid an accident at the hands of, well, a bunch of clowns.

Bad drivers are a global phenomenon that arguably makes the advert internationally relevant.

This film was shot mute – all sound was re-created from scratch to bring it to life. We added to the character of the clowns e.g. by recording the theme tune as whistling (bus driver) and vocalising engine sounds for bikers in the penultimate scene. We spent two days on foley, adding extra rattles, squeaks, shakes and bonks to the clown action to heighten the ramshackle jeopardy, using props including a baby’s buggy and old radiator. It was just as important to find mix space for the music, at times losing car sounds altogether, making best use of story telling elements.